The sense of community can have a large impact on art creating. Looking at local cultures and how to celebrate them. We also take a glance at Museum education and its importance.
Have you ever been part of a community arts center lesson, or volunteered your time, how about taking your kids or students to a museum? Those are some examples of community based educations that help to enrich students education and cultural understanding.
“The country's future depends on inter-community connections -- the promise of increased understanding between people who maybe have little in common on the surface.”
There are many programs out there designed to help aging, youth development, and community building. Those are just some mentions of programs that are available and help the community.
Community Art Education
Community education has been around for a while, especially within the art world. This is how we involve the community and create meanings visually that represent the cultural being of a community as a whole. There are many community projects happening that are important because they bring people together that have similar views. This is is almost like a cultural community representation. Larger works such as murals or public sculptures and sometimes even architecture help to represent the life that was once there.
We can also look at the importance of art education within the community to help provide positive aging and help to support youth development. In my own eyes these are what I like to focus on most. Within my own personal background I have had experience working with geriatric patients as an aide but also being asked to volunteer time to teach the arts. This helps to aide the aging process and create positive and informative lessons that are easy to comprehend and help the elderly in their final years. It also give a chance for self expression and new knowledge.
I have also taken jobs during the summer to help with community based art camps through the Black Swamp Arts Council. This helps students stay busy and safe during the summer months and keep their brains actively thinking and engaging them with activities. Through these camps within the community we are able to celebrate cultural diversities through themes and grow connections between art and life. It also helps to give students their own voice as they grow and develop their artistic skill. It is also a great time for them to experiment and play. They also experience what it is like to be an active citizen within their community.
Museum Art Education
The works that museums showcase can help to understand what is happening in current events and new meanings and medias. We see many programs that museums offer, some after school, and some on the weekends. Through these programs we can see the similarities they have with community based art education programs. Through these programs students can be from many ages, from adult courses to children courses. Museum based art education can be looped around a certain exhibit. But these classes help to develop observation skills, recording, appraise, and analysis. Through workshops and classes the museum educators encourage students to interact and study the pieces in meaningful ways.
These programs can help to advance students that are interested within the arts as well. If there is a student in your classroom that is advanced, you could recommend them to take a weekend workshop to continue and practice their skill in a studio. This helps to encourage students to practice outside of class time and helps them to realize that art is a practice and it must be practiced frequently. The workshops provided can help students learn personal connections and involve healthy studio habits.
“Both the museum environment and the school curricula should be considered when choosing effective educational methodologies, because it is through careful planning between museums and schools that successful teaching of a subject in a museum setting emerges”
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